The majority of conventional surgical instruments are hand-held and hand, foot, or remotely operated. Surgical instruments such as electrical cautery, suction, and hand-held lights typically include electrical supply cords, fiber optic cords, or conduits that are held in place on a surgical table by fastening the cords with clamps to a surgical top drape positioned on top of the patient. The cords and conduits are arranged on the surgical field so that they can be accessed easily by surgeons, assistants, or nurses. Unfortunately, as well intention and organized as the setup may be, the cords and conduits invariably become entangled during the course of a procedure, thereby creating frequent frustration and time delay. Once entangled, instruments become more difficult to easily reach or to pass between surgeons. Entanglement of instrument wire and cords also shortens the effective working length of the instruments and further interferes with their accurate and unobstructed use.
Often times, the electrical cautery or suction supply is accidentally dropped from the surgical field onto the floor, thereby compromising their sterility and requiring replacement. This occurs more frequently with shower curtains drapes and during the course of long, complex procedures.
Typically, irrigation supplies are stored on a table remote from the surgical field and are handed to the surgeon by a scrub nurse within a bulb syringe, or other container, when requested. Unfortunately, during a procedure, the scrub nurse may be occupied for a variety of reasons and have difficulty providing the irrigation in a timely fashion. For example, a scrub nurse is commonly asked to hold a retractor, or other instrument in the surgical field, and is not available to easily turn around and grab the irrigation when needed.
More recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,931,648, 7,951,145 and 8,182,479 to Schneider (“Schneider Patents”) disclosed surgical systems that include a glove with multiple surgical support systems attached thereto. However, there are still challenges to overcome with these systems, including instances where the suction line becomes clogged, a surgical instrument fires accidentally, or conventional surgical systems need to be used in addition to the gloves described in the Schneider Patents. Thus, there is a great need for more efficient, user-friendly systems that eliminate entanglement reliably, that allow for simultaneous use and activation of more than one integral surgical support system, and further avoids the problems set forth herein.